On Feb. 1, at the premises of the Municipality of Obiliq, a meeting was held between the Kosovo Women’s Network (KWN) and members of the Kosovo Lobby for Gender Equality from Obiliq, under the framework of the “Strengthening participation of women in politics” Project, funded by the European Union Office in Kosovo. The meeting was attended by 15 members of the Lobby, where they discussed priority issues about the women in this municipality and the importance of cooperation.

Initially, Igballe Rogova, Executive Director of KWN, opened the meeting talking about the Lobby and the continuous increase of interest about it. She stated that the time has come to come together and advocate about the priority issues. Rogova explained that at local level, the Lobby operates in 27 municipalities, but when the wish and availability of cooperation with the central level was expressed, then the Coalition for Equality was established.

“The women of the Coalition need us too, because together and with positivity we can change many negative things”, she said. “The purpose is to be together and support each other, because I’ve met lots of women able to support each other, but this number should increase”, she continued.

Ganimete Aliu, Gender Equality Officer in the Municipality of Obiliq, said among other things that, “main concerns of women in this municipality include domestic violence, employment for middle ages, social assistance for single mothers and, above all, pollution of the environment”.

Furthermore, discussing about the employment of women, Shqipe Strellci said that, “This is a problem in this municipality, especially due to gender-based discrimination”. She added that, “When men perform one job, they are acclaimed; but this does not apply for women”. With regard to the issue of employment, it was recommended to generate a list to identify the persons that do not have any employed family member.

Another concern raised in the meeting was also the lack of security for the women in this municipality. Some of the recommendations made in the meeting were also related to education, more specifically to the primary education curriculum. Suggestions were made to hold awareness raising activities about gender equality.

Sanije Grajҫevci, head of the KWN member organization “Aureola”, and member of the Lobby in this municipality, said that, “Municipal Assembly women members should be more vocal and advocate about different issues”. Moreover, it was also suggested to hold a meeting between the Lobby and the Mayor of this municipality.

“We never needed solidarity more than now”, Grajçevci said. She added that, “it is essential that women, including housewives, educated and non-educated women from all types of professions, come together to identify the issues and advocate, because at the end of the day, we are all equal citizens”.

All participants agreed and emphasized that the solidarity and support will be achieved only by increasing active participation of women.